I sold a full bike last week and used ParcelForce Express24 collection (for the 2nd time). Packed the bike up well in a box and it came in just inside the smaller size option (max 1.5m long with 3m girth and up to 30kg), a frame only definitely would. £25 for the postage with £400 insurance and they collect from your door and bring a postage label so you don’t even have to bother with printing. Very convenient and arrived with buyer next day.

Edit – fully tracked and you can ask for a text to be sent to you when it’s delivered.

Had one for 7-8 years, similar experiences to above, would happily recommend it. Lives in the car now to be worn on walks and after damp/cold rides, instead of a more delicate down jacket. Packs down small and layers up nicely. The massive pockets are great!

Can’t comment on the family ride but I’d head for Eastridge for the solo ride. Park at the Snailbeach car park and use Trailforks to hunt for the trails.

Brand X Ascends on there for £88 too. In 100, 125 and 150mm drop in 30.9 and 31.6 dia. Can’t remember ever seeing them as cheap as that in those sizes.

Edit – 170 and 200mm for £99 too, bargain!

Don’t want to give any advice on riding, but after being knocked out and having a bad concussion a few years ago I think it was a couple of weeks before I felt ‘normal’. Felt very spacey with bad short term memory, headaches and sensitive to bright light. Having said that I think I had my first gentle pootle after about 3 weeks.

Yep, as steamtb says The Trailhead in Shrewsbury have just started up their shop rides again after 18 months off. Usually a Tues eve and they run every couple of weeks. I think there was going to be one more before Xmas, get your lad to keep an eye on Instagram for the details, the last ride was up the Stiperstones.

I’ve got a V2 Frontier and I think it’s great. Bought it earlier this year as a replacement for a drop bar 29er gravel bike, after realising most of the ‘gravel’ riding I was doing in South Shropshire was really XC MTB, which the Frontier is really well suited too. It’s my bikepacking bike too, so the more upright position is great for long days in the saddle. Went for the Frontier because all the bits would swap over from my other bike, it was cheap, had plenty of mounts and most importantly was actually available to buy.

Built up with carbon forks, no dropper, X01 drivetrain, and fast rolling 2.2s it’s reasonably light and plenty fast enough. Alpkit loop bars and a seatpack support stay on permanently. Really hard to go wrong for the price and Alpkit are great to deal with.

@mick_r cheers! It gets a lot of use, one of my favourite bikes. There’s a join midway, the steerer was extended, handily a 25.4 tube fits nicely inside a 1.6mm wall 28.6 steerer, so it’s got a ~150mm sleeve brazed inside the join.

The majority of the frame is a Genesis IO 725. I chopped the headtube off, brazed on a longer one to account for the 20″ front wheel, then the square tubed brace. The rack then bolts to the square cross brace and the box is bolted to the rack. Then just a few extra braze-ons and a hanger too, as the donor bike just had track ends.

I’ve not tried a fork rack (beyond ones like Wald) but I went for the frame mount to have the load on the frame, and it works well. Rides normally empty and is stable with a load on the front.

@p7eavan I’ve not found it needed one. Initially the rack was a lot bigger, but that was too flexy, so I chopped it down and popped the box on. Nice and solid now. The only thing it struggles with is riding no handed, you quickly get a shimmy, so I suppose a steering damper would help with that. In practice that’s not an issue though.

I was in a similar position, wanting to be able to carry more stuff (shopping basically) by bike. I’d already got a little homemade cycletruck which is great and rides like a normal bike, but that can only take a couple of carrier bags in the front box, and I wanted to be able to do a big shop by bike.

My shed isn’t long enough for a full size cargo bike or Xtracyle type thing so I borrowed a Bob Yak trailer from a friend. It’s brilliant! It tracks really nicely and you can’t really tell it’s there when riding empty and it’ll take up to ~20kg. Easily enough room for a week’s shop for two, plus cat food/litter. Those big blue Ikea bags are the perfect size for it, straight from the trolley into the trailer, no faffing with panniers. The best part is it only takes 10 seconds to hook or unhook the trailer so you can use the bike normally otherwise.

They’re expensive new but I think my friend picked it up from ebay for about £80 second hand.

Pic below was about the limit of what it could carry, 20kg of cat litter + 80 pouches of food and shopping for two made it a bit wobbly/snakey.

If you were carrying kids or dogs then a proper cargo bike would be best though.

I’m using a 130mm fork and 29×2.6 Fr/29×2.3 Rr. I’d agree that it has to be ridden pretty hard to make the most of it, but it’s incredibly capable when you do. To be honest it’s more of a sit and spin uphill as I don’t find it particularly spritely, but it more than makes up for it across and down, the more you push it the better it feels. I can’t comment on different fork lengths as I’ve only tried it at 130, but it feels right as is. I’m on the LLS one that came previous to the current one, I think the only geometry difference is a slightly slacker seat tube, and I find I’m running the saddle quite far forward which helps uphill too. Fantastic hardtail for all round use and it really does downhill rapidly.

I’ve got a Sonder Frontier for gravel/bikepacking with a rigid carbon fork, which is a bit shorter and steeper, and that works a lot better for that usage.

Thanks for the feedback and tips all. I’ll get one ordered too!

Can anyone feedback on how robust they are? Tempted to put one on the back of my Solaris for winter but don’t want to waste my money if it’s not going to hold up to fairly rough riding. Appreciate if I crash that won’t help things..

I can highly recommend a Solaris. I’m 5’11” on a large LLS Solaris Max, with a 35mm stem and 130mm fork. I think if I was much shorter I’d want a medium, but as it is the large fits really well. Can’t comment on other fork lengths as I haven’t tried anything else, but the 130 rides nicely. Goes up hill well and down even better, easily the best hardtail I’ve ever ridden.

It’s well worth a visit, I live about 15 mins away and it’s where I’ve grown up riding, the views are incredible on a clear day and it holds up well when it’s wet as most trails are stone.

I’d park down in Church Stretton (plenty of parking at the Co-op). Using the map linked on the National Trust for reference (Map), going down Minton Batch (7) singletrack is well worth doing, the climb from Hamperley (1) is a good way to get back up onto the top by the Gliding Club after going down Minton (and there are some tracks in the woods at that end that it’s worth having a poke around for, they’re all fairly obvious coming off the main fireroad).

Descent down Callow Hill (9) to Little Stretton is great, more of a steep, fast double track. Carding Mill Valley (10) is a quick but steep way (push!) to climb up onto the top from the town, but usually too busy with walkers to ride down. 11 into 12 into 14 is a fantastic descent, starts wide, fast and grassy then when you get to 14 becomes a tight, steep singletrack descent into Batch Valley.

As others have said, Eastridge and the Stiperstones are only about 20 mins away and are steeper and techier, might be good for the afternoon?

Bahco 1/4″ one for me too, use it all the time for bike stuff, it’s a nice little set. Only complaint is that I had to add a 3 & 4mm hex bit, it only came with a 5 & 6mm. Got the Bahco 3/8″ and 1/2″ set for car stuff too, equally good.

I use a Stanley Adventure mug. Screw top, with two sections (one for sipping, one fully open), fits really nicely in a bottle cage and keeps a drink hot for a couple of hours. No clipping/flipping lids to break or leak. Not massive though, ~240ml from memory. I’d happily recommend it.

Got mine set up for all round use, from steep rocky built stuff to long xc rides. Settled on 130mm 34s, 29″ Flows with a 2.6 Butcher at the front and a 2.3 Ground Control at the back. Will probably swap to a faster rolling front tyre for the summer. I’ve not tried it with different fork lengths or 27.5+ but haven’t see any reason to over the 2 years I’ve had it.

Another working in FCRM, and another no.

We’ve had a pair of blackcaps arrive in the garden just in time for this, hopefully they’ll be out tomorrow. Plenty of the usual sparrows, robins, starlings, blackbirds and a few types of tits too.

I’ve got a Tideace MF004 on my bikepacking bike, done a few thousand km with no issue, would happily recommend them. Available in boost or non-boost, 490mm a2c. I got mine from eBay (new) but they’re also available on AliExpress, I think I paid about £90 posted about 18 months ago.

Not a weird object but I found a seatclamp in the middle of the local woods, seemed an odd thing to lose while riding.

Superstar currently have 25% off everything with the code NY2021, you might find something on there. I’ve had a couple of pairs of SS wheels they’ve both been good, including some of their own V6 hubs.

As another data point on 180cm on a large MK2 SolarisMax (pre ST angle being steepened by a degree) and it fits nicely, not that I’ve tried a medium. I’ve got a 35mm stem and plenty of space to run a long dropper. I think if I was an inch or so shorter I’d be tempted by a medium though. It’s my only mtb at the moment so it’s used for everything from DH tracks to bikepacking.

I’ve got a Pipedream 400 that I bought about 6 years ago (think it was £150 at the time, recent price increases may make it less competitive against other manufacturers, but at the time there wasn’t much other choice at that price point). I’ve not felt the need to upgrade it for UK 3 season bikepacking. Must have used it for 50/60 nights now and I’ve been out to about -5* with a down jacket/thermals/liner to boost it. I’m 5’11” and the regular version is long enough for me. I do use it with a decent Exped Synmat though which helps.

One issue I had (although definitely user error in hindsight), was ripping a couple of the internal mesh baffles while hand washing it in the bath, despite trying to be careful with it. This let some of the down migrate around the bag and left some bare patches. Remedied it by cutting open some of the baffles, adding an additional 100g of down from extremtextil.de and sewing it back up, so I suppose it’s a Pipedream 500 now..

@jamesmio

Did you find you needed the Goatlink? I’m running a M8000 mech with 11-46t Sunrace cassette on my Solaris and it’s been fine without one. Might come down to hanger/frame geometry though.
Not sure a 50/51t cassette would work without one though.

I’d just like to add that it’s interesting to hear others experiences too, I can’t say that I know anyone in real life who’s had a head injury/concussion from cycling, so it’s reassuring to hear experiences that are similar to mine to some degree or other. It’s something that I think of fairly regularly while riding and the potential for a future further head injury is a worry at times.

Not a doctor! Story time. I had a bad fall (road bike) in June 2017, lost consciousness briefly and lost my memory of the day completely, even now. As best as I can surmise I took most of the impact on my chin/face. Mate took me to A&E, had a scan and some stitches in my chin, sent home with a concussion. Minimal other injuries, just a few scrapes. Head was all over the place for a couple of weeks, short term memory and concentration were shot. Once that passed I felt fine until some time in August when I started getting episodes of numbness on one side of my face/right arm, thought I was having a stroke. After the 3rd episode went back to A&E, where after a night in and some more scans, they found a slow brain bleed (chronic subdural hematoma) that had been putting pressure on my brain and causing the numbness, in the intervening two months. A speedy minor brain op and within 24hrs I was back home. Luckily no further symptoms and a full recovery (bar slight problems with numb hands which has since resolved in the last 2 years). Very glad I went back to A&E and I was certainly helped by my age.
Not trying to put the fear in you, but my take away from what happened to me was to keep a close eye on symptoms, even further down the line and take a good break from anything that could potentially cause another head injury in the short term.
Longer term I guess it comes down to personal choice on how much risk you’re willing to take with potential further concussions versus giving up something you love. I will say that my accident was on an innocuous bit of road where I wasn’t taking any particularly big or out of the ordinary risks, I got unlucky hitting a pot hole or speedy bump weirdly and off I came, shit happens. I was wearing a helmet at the time, which I think helped, and I always wear one, that’s another argument though. I was back on the bike 6 weeks after the op and although thoughts of it occasionally pop into my head while riding, it hasn’t changed how I ride either on or off road. Like you though, I share concerns about the unknowns of further concussions.

Best of luck to you with your recovery.

Edit: I’m 25 now so not too dissimilar in age.

Good consensus on the 100% Briskers, will give them a go. Thanks all.

Does anyone know what sort of time I’d need to be checking the live stream tomorrow to watch the top 10?

I use Giro Rumble VR for general gravel/commuting/xc/round town riding. Comfortable off the bike and stiff enough on the road. Not particularly warm though, they have mesh over the toe box. Sized up one UK size over my normal shoe size. They’ve lasted very well, must have ridden ~7/8000km in them and they’re still looking good.

Just had a check and I actually got it from AliExpress. Paid for the fast postage (so £90 all in) and it arrived in about 10 days. Think my friend got his from eBay.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_BSU3n3

I’ve got a set of Chinese ones (Tideace MF-004). 490mm A2C and available in both boost and non-boost 15mm. Think they cost me about £80 18 months ago, new from eBay. No issues to report and a friend has just bought a pair too.

Good stuff, cheers. I’ve got a new fuel filter that I hadn’t got round to fitting, so no harm starting with that. Then swapping injectors around will be next on the list.

Not had the best experience with mine (29×2.6 Butcher Grid front/29×2.3 Ground Control Grid rear). The front is squirmy unless the pressure is just right, settled on ~22psi, but the grip is good. Running ~25psi on the rear which seems to be a good balance between squirm/grip. On my second rear though as literally 20km into the first ride I slashed/popped a 2 inch tear across the carcass of it on a fairly innocuous rocky trail. Might have been bad luck but I’ve never done that sort of damage to another tyre and I wasn’t riding particularly hard. Think I’ll stick with them until they wear out as they’re riding okay now I’ve fiddled with pressures, and then go to another brand.

Another weird thing is both the 2.3 and the 2.6 come up at exactly the same size (~2.45″) on 30mm rims, anyone else found that?

No idea on the listed building part, but my bikes are named and covered on a Lloyds home insurance policy. Price was decent and they were great to deal with when I had a claim for a bike 18 months ago, I’d happily recommend them.

I used some basic steel 7/8ths moto bars from ebay with a shim (to fit a 25.4 stem) on an early 90’s Rockhopper. Think they were only about £15. As above though they are heavy and really stiff, my hands end up pretty beaten up as there’s no give in the bars, with a 2.2 tyre.

My V6 hubs have been a bit of a pain, the original end caps were too loose and dropped out every time you took the front wheel out. They sent out free replacements that had been re-designed to be slightly larger, but they squeaked terribly, then once the rubber o-ring wore down, they now drop out too. The freehub (Shimano type) dropped off my rear wheel when it was in the back of the car (just a push fit onto the hub shell), losing some of the pawls/springs. I’ve never had the freehub drop off another wheel like that..
These were pre-built boost hubs onto Stans Flow rims. The build was nice and true and I haven’t had any problems while riding, they’ve been used fairly hard on a hardtail and have no dings/are still nice and round. Bearings have lasted well. Just the above annoyances when removing/carrying the wheels in the boot. Got to have an eagle eye for end caps disappearing in car parks at the end of rides.

Personally don’t see a reason to get anything beyond a Brand-X. Far cheaper and more reliable than the previous 3 Reverbs.
Maybe an upgraded lever though. Think the newer stock version is better than the original, having said that.

Lotaradine tablets and Beconase nose spray just about keep it bearable for me. As above, it needs consistent use over several days to be effective. Cetirizine tablets made me too drowsy.

I crashed and wrote off (badly dented frame) a 2014 650B YT Wicked in early 2019. I got a cash settlement based on the equivalent spec, new Capra. This was under a new for old, named bike policy on the home insurance (Lloyds), excellent service!